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Step 2: Install HPC Pack on the Workstation Computers

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Applies To: Microsoft HPC Pack 2012, Microsoft HPC Pack 2012 R2

There are several ways to install HPC Pack on the workstation computers that you want to add as workstation nodes to your HPC cluster. The installation process that you choose depends on several factors in your organization:

  • Your workstation infrastructure

  • Security policies that are in place

  • Deployment practices that are commonly used

It is recommended that you install HPC Pack on the workstation computers in the same way that you perform similar software installations in your organization. If you are not the workstation administrator for your organization, you will need to discuss and coordinate the installation of HPC Pack with the workstation administrator.

Note

If your cluster is running at least HPC Pack 2008 R2 with SP3, you can also install HPC Pack on computers running the Windows Server operating system that will be added as unmanaged servers to the cluster. For more information, see Adding Unmanaged Servers to a Windows HPC Cluster.

Installation alternatives for Microsoft HPC Pack

The installation application for HPC Pack offers two installation alternatives:

  • Manual installation using the Microsoft HPC Pack installation wizard

  • Command-line installation, including unattended installation

Both installation alternatives install all the necessary features, as well as HPC Cluster Manager, HPC PowerShell, and HPC Job Manager.

Manual installation using the Microsoft HPC Pack installation wizard

You can manually install HPC Pack on each workstation computer by using the HPC Pack installation wizard. This wizard is available when you run the setup.exe application that is included in the installation media for HPC Pack.

A limitation of this type of manual installation is that you need to log on to each workstation computer, locally or by connecting to it remotely, using a domain or local account that has administrative privileges on that computer.

To install HPC Pack by using the Microsoft HPC Pack installation wizard

  1. To start the HPC Pack installation wizard, run setup.exe from the HPC Pack installation media or from a network location.

  2. If you are installing HPC Pack 2012, on the HPC Pack 2012 Setup screen, click New Installation or add new features to an existing installation.

  3. If you are installing HPC Pack 2008 R2, on the Select Installation Edition page, select HPC Pack 2008 R2 Enterprise and HPC Pack 2008 R2 for Workstation (or, in certain versions, HPC Pack 2008 R2 Enterprise and HPC Pack 2008 R2 for Cycle Harvesting), and then click Next.

  4. Read or print the software license terms in the license agreement, and accept or reject the terms of that agreement. If you accept the terms, click Next.

  5. On the Select Installation Type page, click Join an existing HPC cluster by creating a new workstation node, and then click Next.

    Note

    If you are installing HPC Pack 2008 R2 with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later, click Join an existing HPC cluster by creating a new workstation node or unmanaged server node, and then click Next.

  6. On the Join Cluster page, type or select the computer name of the head node of your HPC cluster. Click Next to continue.

    Important

    • If you are running at least HPC Pack 2008 R2 with SP2 in your cluster, you can specify a head node that is joined to the same domain to which the workstation computer is joined, or a head node in a domain that has an established trust relationship with the domain to which the workstation computer is joined. To specify a head node in a different domain, type the fully qualified domain name (for example, MyHeadNode.contoso.com).

    • If you are running a previous version of HPC Pack 2008 R2, you must specify the computer name of a head node computer that is joined to the same domain as the workstation computer.

  7. Continue to follow the steps in the installation wizard to complete the installation of HPC Pack.

Command-line installation, including unattended installation

The setup.exe application that is included in the installation media for HPC Pack can also run from a Command Prompt window, or from within a script.

Important

As with other command-line applications, depending on the configuration of the computer and the domain policies, as well as the domain or local user account that you are using, User Account Control (UAC) might ask for confirmation to run setup.exe, causing a script to stall or fail. The behavior of the UAC message can be changed by using Group Policy. For more information, contact a network administrator in your organization, or see UAC Group Policy Settings and Registry Key Settings.

The following command installs HPC Pack in unattended mode on a workstation computer, and joins it to the specified HPC cluster:

setup.exe -unattend -workstationnode:<head_node>

where <head_node> is the name of the head node computer of the HPC cluster.

You can also install the client components on the workstation computer by adding the –client parameter.

Note

To see a list of all parameters that are available for setup.exe, in a Command Prompt window, type the following command: setup.exe -?.

For example, the following command installs HPC Pack in unattended mode on a workstation computer, joins it to the HPC cluster where <head_node> is the name of the head node computer, and also installs HPC Cluster Manager, HPC Job Manager, and HPC PowerShell on the computer:

setup.exe -unattend –workstationnode:<head_node> -client

See Also

Adding Workstation Nodes to a Windows HPC Cluster
Steps for Adding Workstation Nodes to a Windows HPC Cluster